Volunteering at the Sanctus Homeless Cafe

As part of my course I have to complete a set amount of volunteering hours. However, I've enjoyed it so much that I now volunteer every week at Sanctus Homeless Café in Chelmsford.

The aim of volunteering is to enhance my practical knowledge and to be able to view aspects of my course in a work-type environment.

Sanctus Homeless Café provides, shelter, food, a warm conversation and practical advice for the homeless community of Chelmsford.

ARU Students’ Union has been working with Sanctus for nearly four years now. They were the reason the SU started its People's Patch Allotment project. All produce grown on the University's campus allotment and in the greenhouse on the roof of Sawyers building is either donated to the café for use in daily meals; or is used for Sanctus volunteers, many of which are ARU students, to produce smoothie drinks which Sanctus sell. All profits go back into running the café.

Emma Hughes, from Sanctus, said this about Nina:

"Nina has volunteered with us at Sanctus Homeless Charity for six months. We run a free café/day space for those in need and Nina supports in a number of roles; she cooks and cleans in our kitchen as part of a team on a weekly basis. She collects donated food from local cafés as part of a rota and is also part of our juicing project – and has developed some great flavours for drinks that we will sell as a social enterprise. These are utilising Nina’s passion for nutrition, which she is studying for her degree. Nina is a real asset to our team and volunteers alongside a huge range of people from all backgrounds. We are very thankful for her time and enthusiasm."

Sports Coaching and Physical Education student Sian has been actively volunteering at sporting events throughout her time at ARU. She blogs about the benefits of volunteering for her future career. Read more…

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